Burning of Mossflower Wood
by Folgrimeo
Summary: Slagar uses a bit of magic to set Mossflower Wood ablaze. Matthias and Cornflower escape and ponder how to help, while Redwall Abbey is left to cope with its inevitable fate.


_Originally completed this back in December 2010, wanting to explore how Redwall Abbey might react to such a disaster. Then the series author died a couple months later, so out of respect I kept this hidden. I think enough time has passed by now. This is roughly during the timeline of_ "Mattimeo"_, though that's not important. Slagar traveling through time and original plot-device character Mark only exist to get things going. Story idea came about as the most dramatic thing I could think of, so it was cathartic for me to finish this._

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><p>It was a sunny autumn day overlooking Mossflower. Rays of light filtering through the trees, birds singing. For goodbeasts, it was a pleasant day to go outside and play. For vermin, it was another day to steal and plunder, enslave or slay goodbeasts, and to form strategies for conquering other tribes and villages they might come across. In all, a typical day. The fox Slagar expected as much as he looked out the window of St. Ninian's, thinking of plans for invading the Abbey. He wasn't expecting to get a visit from a stranger today.<p>

Strolling down the path of St. Ninian's was a wolf named Mark. Appearing to be from a future era, and in fact not from this world at all, he wore a brown trench coat, keeping the collar up and his head low as if to help obscure his identity. Not that he needed it since no one would know who he was, but Mark didn't feel safe. He was given a task to come to Mossflower and grant one lucky (or unlucky) character the chance to change time. The reason was to give someone the chance of a lifetime to indulge in the past and to learn about what life could have been like under different circumstances, presenting the opportunity to fix any faults so the world could be improved overall. Mark also knew it would be way too easy for someone to abuse this power and lead the world to ruin. So it was with trepidation that he went to the character he chose, anticipating that he'd have to explain a lot just so his far-fetched claims would be believed.

Two stoat guards outside St. Ninian's saw Mark approaching and halted him, spears reaching out. "Who are you and what do you want?"

Mark spoke in a friendly tone, feeling that the beasts of Mossflower needed reassurance that he wasn't a threat. "I'm Mark, I've come here on an urgent matter to speak to Slagar. I'm afraid I can't say much beyond that, it's highly confidential."

The stoats put up their spears and couldn't resist insulting the traveler. "Mark? Bilger, do you hear this? What kinda name is Mark, anyhow?"

"Heh-heh, and look at that thing he's wearing. It's too big for him! Where did you get a size like that? Are you really fat under there or something?"

"No, it's called a trench-coat. And my name's none of your concern, will you please just let me speak to Slagar?"

"He speaks so pretty too! Listen, no pretty talker's going in to talk to our captain!"

Mark had enough of this. "Just let me in. Your captain can kill me if he doesn't like me."

"Aw no, we're gonna make sure you don't try anything fancy!"

Bilger chimed in, "Yeah! …er, I thought we don't let no pretty talkers in."

Keeping one eye on Mark at all times, the other stoat replied, "We'll keep a close eye on him, that's all." Opening the door, the guard gestured for Mark to follow, with both stoats keeping their spears crossed to prevent Mark from walking out in front.

Slagar was at the window, staring at the Abbey out in the distance. The fox was getting tired of reminding his followers that he was planning, not looking for something. It's just that he could be found at the window so much that his followers became expectant of hearing about a plan, something to justify all the time spent near the window. Normally leaders would be moving around and making notes on paper, they thought.

"Captain, sorry to interrupt, we found this scallywag outside. Says he wants to talk to you."

Slagar was bewildered at the stranger's appearance. "What is that?"

"My name's Mark, and if I could have a moment alone with you," as he glared at his two captors, "I'd like to discuss an urgent matter."

Not knowing Mark's intentions, he replied "Search him."

The stoats patted down Mark's coat and felt a hard, round object inside. Pulling it out, it looked like a glowing crystal ball, flashing colors of the rainbow.

Mark hastily added, "Ah, yes, that will be the focus of my discussion."

"Is that why you're wearing that ridiculous outfit?"

"Partly."

A sigh revealed that Slagar was getting tired of having to pry for answers. "What's the other part?"

The plain reply was "I don't want anyone to recognize me."

Faced with an unsatisfying answer, Slagar conceded to the stranger's demand of having them alone, after verifying that the wolf wasn't hiding anything else. Slagar just wanted Mark to say his piece and leave. It was out of curiosity that he was giving this wolf a chance at all.

"Okay," Mark began. His deliberate pause was in preparation to a speech, but the uncertainty in his eyes showed apprehension. Slagar interpreted it as if the wolf was trying to get his facts straight, trying to sneak a lie past him. Slagar's stance couldn't have helped matters, it was intimidating and criticizing. Or maybe it was curious, with interest and an open mind, Mark couldn't tell behind the fox's mask.

Mark chose his words slowly and carefully, in an attempt to do justice to explaining the task. His tone was similarly deliberate, devoid of passion. "I've come here from another world, by someone I can't name, to fulfill the task of changing this land for the better. I'm not a resident here, so I wouldn't know what to change. I thought about choosing a good creature to deal with it, but they'll probably think their life is great as is. Probably kill all the evil creatures too, I don't quite think that's the right thing to do. Evil creatures would actually do something with this power. And I suppose you're middle ground, tricking good and evil alike, correct?" After seeing Slagar nod, Mark continued. "Yes, so you'd do something with the power. Now, you're not going to believe anything I'm about to say, but it's the truth, and I'm willing to demonstrate it if I have to. That crystal ball lets you literally do anything. Anything you can imagine becomes reality, just as long as it's not physically impossible. All you need is adequate willpower. The more powerful the thing you're trying to do, the more effort it requires." Mark turned somber to address the inevitable consequence of this power. "I'm aware that it can be used to destroy the land, and I expect that. But I think you'll realize a world where everything goes your way is not desirable. I figured I'd give you a chance since you once requested help from the Abbey. You may have had a little remorse at cracking Methuselah over the head with that sack. I could be wrong, it could have all been an act. If you're wondering how I know this, I've done quite a bit of research through this land's past, trying to find someone who would be perfect. But even if I gave this power to a good creature, there's potential for abuse. So I want you to put some thought into what you're going to do before you do it. It takes a lot of effort to undo a passionate action."

Slagar considered this, thinking Mark to be quite out of his mind. What is there to stop him if he can do anything? His first act would be to slay Mark just so he wouldn't have to listen to the wolf's babble.

Mark started up again, speaking in a more cheerful tone. "Also, this crystal ball can be like a time machine. Just think of where you want to go, and you're there. There's no limit to how far back or forward you can go, at least to my recollection. Read minds, control other animals as if you were them, anything. Uh, to make this all work, you just have to remember to keep that ball in your possession. If you pick it up, right now, put it inside your cloak, it kind of sticks in there, like a magnet. It's magic, I know. So you could be knocked over, and nothing would happen to it, it would stay in there."

Slagar did as he said, although upon hearing "cloak", he thought Mark meant his cape. Feeling foolish, he tucked the ball under his cape, kept his arm underneath the ball so it wouldn't fall, and stood there. "No, Slagar, take your arm out from under there. It's not going to fall." In an effort to call his bluff, Slagar quickly swung out his arm and expected the ball to fall out. It didn't, it felt like it was sticking to the inside of the cape. The fox also thought it unusual that it wasn't noticeable, he kept checking inside the cape to make sure it hadn't disappeared. Truly, it was some sort of magic ball.

"Alright Slagar, I'll leave it up to you. Remember, you can travel in time, do anything. Have fun. I'll be back here in about a week, although there's nothing stopping you from hiding in the past for as long as you want, or just going somewhere else in the future. For all I know, I won't see you at all in a week. But if that happens, I will find you. I came to this particular spot at this particular time, so eventually I can find you again. Maybe. Just promise me you'll be back here, okay?"

Fingers crossed behind his back, Slagar nodded. He wasn't sure what a week was, but figured it meant a lot of time for him.

"Okay, I'm out of here. Don't go killing me on my way out or anything."

Slagar decided he'd kill the wolf later, when he could come up with a more interesting death for the stranger. For now, it was time to test things out. "Anything I want…"

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><p>It wasn't long until Slagar knew what the first test would be. "Blow up the Abbey, that will do," he said to himself. Slagar walked out of the church and told his guards to go look for some rat tribe deep in Mossflower, then return. The guards went off on their way, not wanting to question where the idea came from or why it was so important. It was just a ploy, Slagar didn't care where they went; if this crystal ball worked, he wouldn't need guards, he'd be powerful enough on his own. While he was waiting for the guards to wander out of sight and earshot, he stared at the Abbey with anticipation. Hmm… he could walk to the Abbey front gate and see the look on Matthias's face as the castle exploded. That wouldn't be a bad idea. But if something were to go wrong, he didn't want to spontaneously figure out how to become immune to flying arrows. And instead of bringing the Abbey back afterward, he'd just go back in time and prevent himself from blowing it up. Genius!<p>

"Okay, I am blowing up the Abbey now," Slagar loudly proclaimed, making it easier for him to know when to stop himself. Just listen for those key words, then come up and stop him. At the same time he glanced around just in case he had done this before. Seeing no one, he continued, "3… 2… 1…" For a moment, all was peaceful. And then BOOM! With his thoughts, the Abbey was no more.

Stones flew in every direction, raining down on the surrounding forest. Slagar quickly sidled against a nearby tree for fear of getting hit. What Slagar hadn't realized was that his idea of an explosion was to leave no stone remaining. So it exploded, just with a force powerful enough to evaporate the grass and everything else nearby. The giant plumes of smoke were bigger than he expected. It was an awesome sight. It took a moment before he remembered there was a second part to his plan.

Next up was bringing the Abbey back. He walked a short distance backwards, then closed his eyes and wished to go back. His past self appeared before his eyes, prompting him to run up and warn "Hey me, don't blow up the Abbey."

The past Slagar frowned and responded, "I had a feeling you'd be here. So, did you see it explode?"

"Yes, completely worth it."

"That's great for you, shame for me since I won't see it!" The past Slagar was obviously sour about the idea.

"If wishes were fishes. Now leave! Besides, I'll still remember it."

"I won't!"

"Oh go wish yourself to remember it or something. Bye!"

Without warning the future Slagar vanished. The past Slagar, not knowing what to do now, proceeded to walk back to his hideout. He stopped in mid-pace, feeling disoriented. The future Slagar had returned to this past moment, replacing past Slagar and its memories and leaving just one fox. In doing so, it was as if he suddenly warped to another location a few feet away. He remembered seeing the Abbey explode and recalled doing it. After looking to see that the Abbey was there intact, he declared the test a success and tried to shake his uneasy feeling, believing it to be a natural consequence of time travel.

Then he thought of an ingenious plan. Wish himself to conquer and rule over Redwall, then go back in time to see how he did it! In the blink of an eye, he was sitting on a high chair in the Great Hall, the tapestry adorned with his image, mice hurriedly preparing food for their new master. So this was what it was like to be the leader of Redwall. Maybe he'd just stay here for a while and temporarily forget about whatever it was he was going to do. In his mind he deserved to indulge in this luxurious life.

He saw grapes floating at the side of his head, so he looked right to see Cornflower holding them. She looked worn out, dutifully doing her job without complaint or enjoyment. It wasn't a look he wanted to see from any of his servants. He didn't rule Redwall to get looks of disdain from his followers. That would be like his stoat guard Bilger saying "ah, I don't care, yer plan's good." It didn't feel like he was in true control.

Cornflower knew better than to ask her master in a condescending manner to open his mouth. If Slagar wasn't eating the grapes, then he must have something else in mind. Without saying a word, she lowered her hood of her habit and started to undress. Slagar was just about scrambling over his chair backwards in shock, trying to find the words to get her to stop. "Whoa whoa whoa, what are you doing! STOP!"

The other mice stopped what they were doing. If Slagar yelled, he was upset and someone was going to get whipped. But Slagar had no intention of doing that, let alone remember anything about how his servants saw him. He sensed that these would be the only servants he'd have for a while and was bent on getting the most out of them.

Cornflower spoke without emotion. "I thought you wanted me."

Slagar was indignant. "I WANT you to go tend to crops, or knit socks, or something! I'm not… EUGH, I don't even want to think of it! I'm not interested! Just lay off!" Cornflower didn't move, thinking he had more to say judging from how he was still fidgeting about, eyes darting back and forth. "Hey, uh, uh, before you go, have we… us, have we ever… been together?" He headed off the first question that was bound to come from Cornflower's lips. "Yes, I have amnesia, just humor me."

Again without emotion, with the sort of fake concern to convince her master she was sympathetic, she responded, "How long have you had amnesia?"

"Ever since you showed me that patch of fur," as he pointed to her stomach.

"Oh… I'm sorry to hear that. We'll get Sister May to look at you right away."

"No, I'm… I'm fine. Really. Now if you'll excuse me… I think I need some fresh air." His voice wilted as he finished his sentence, dashing out of the room so fast that the other mice had to do a double-take.

Free from getting an eyeful of a mouse, he elected this to be the time to see how he conquered Redwall. He specifically thought to go to the point where his attack on Redwall began. A second later he saw himself standing before the Abbey. So far so good. Suddenly, Redwallers came pouring out and, in a synchronous gesture, bowed down to him. His past self announced "I am Slagar, I am now the new ruler of Redwall!" The mice chanted "Slagar! Slagar!" in unison, the past Slagar soaked in the glory, and the future Slagar stated in a deadpan fashion, "I should have known."

Okay, ruling the Abbey was over. Should he return to it, he could just make a vixen appear to take over for Cornflower. And select how she looked too, so that wherever in the world such a vixen existed, she'd be inexplicably drawn to the Abbey. This assuming he couldn't make a vixen appear out of thin air. He'd have plenty of time to verify that later, right now he wanted to see much damage he could cause to goodbeasts. What if Martin had never lived?

Young Martin was busy looking for crabs in the shallows, near the cave that was his home up in the North. He was accompanied by his grandmother Windred. Suddenly a huge rock hits Windred across the cheek, causing her to collapse to the ground. Martin only had enough time to turn around to see a fox running toward him, before blacking out from the impact of a rock to his forehead. Mission accomplished. Slagar bludgeoned the child's limp form a few more times just to be sure, then chucked Martin and his grandmother out to sea. Slagar left the scene before Badrang and his crew came along.

Badrang's first mate Hisk said, "Somebeast got to them before we did, captain."

Badrang waved his troops to turn back. "Keep a lookout for who caused this. It might be that old birdbrained messmate of mine, Tramun."

Slagar was excited to see what new world would await him. Instead, the Abbey was still there. He couldn't understand it, Martin was dead. Using the power of the crystal ball for invincibility, he threw open the Abbey gate and carelessly shoved aside all beasts that got in his way. He marched toward the tapestry, the Abbeybeasts giving him a wide berth. Whoever the Abbey worshipped now, Slagar felt like socking the beast in the nose for having the audacity of being a hero. He stared at the figure on the tapestry, racking his brains in vain to recall a mouse that looked like this one. Finally he gave up.

"Who is this? Who in HELLGATES is this!"

One mouse spoke with a quiver, "He— he's— he's Gonff the Warrior."

Matthias spoke with more confidence, befitting respect to the memory of a great leader. "He slew the wildcat of Kotir and helped found our Abbey. A courageous mouse first and a thief second. His tale is one we will pass down for seasons to come, and we honor him every day. In every feast we have, in the way we conduct our behavior of peace, we have him to thank for giving us this opportunity and we pay back our respect for him by living out the dream he fought for."

The beauty of the speech was lost on Slagar. "Is that right," he seethed. "I'll be right back."

15 minutes and another dead mouse later, the Abbey still stood, a symbol of hope and endurance. Slagar could be heard shouting "Damn it all!" as he once again marched down the corridor to see the tapestry.

"That's Abbess Germaine," piped up a young mouse in a yellow smock.

Slagar cut the unfortunate mouse's life short with a glare, which gave the mouse an inexplicable heart attack, and with that he stormed out. In frustration he turned back time and stopped himself to reverse his changes.

"What's it gonna take to bring this thing down!" Slagar huffed. "That's it, I'm… I'm burning this down! I want to hear them SCREAM!" In a fit of madness, forgetting there were easier ways to get what he wanted, all he could think about was setting the Abbey ablaze and somehow watching the Redwallers up close come to a slow death. But there was one problem, stones didn't burn and disappear. And he couldn't set all the furniture on fire… or could he? Looking up at the tops of the trees overhead gave him an idea. Why is it that no one has thought about setting Mossflower on fire? It'd wipe out all the goodbeasts for miles. A lot more damage would be caused. He'd lose his home, but what of it, he could just think up a new one. Warp to some place just outside of Mossflower and set up a new home. It seemed so simple.

It didn't take long before he realized it'd require a little bit more thought. He could set some trees on fire, sure, but a small fire could be put out by water. No, it'd have to be the whole forest, that would be the way to do it. What if that was too much energy for him to muster… alright, he'd set off a fire in one place, warp to another location at the same time and set that place on fire, and continue until the whole forest was ablaze. It might take considerable effort to undo later, considering his emotions at the time he was planning the fire and the fact that he would make himself appear in multiple places at once, but he didn't care. "Actually, let those damn Redwallers have their Martin back, they'll need all the help they can get. They should fight for their lives and THEN die!" A quick change of time, Martin co-founds the Abbey again, and Slagar's ready to cause the biggest disaster that the land would ever know.

It would all start with one tree. He knelt down close to where the tree trunk met the ground, caused a flaming torch to materialize in his paw, and spent a final moment of thought to reflect on the magnitude of the event before setting the tree on fire. It was almost of regret, like he was shocked that he was doing this. Perhaps for reasons of being fair again, he concentrated his attacks east of the Abbey and let the fire spread west. This presented the chance, however brief, for some Redwallers to escape. Because there's no greater joy than seeing mice from outside watching in horror as their Abbey becomes lost in a wall of flame. Hmm, wall of flame. He was so adamant about pulling this off without a hitch that not only did he coordinate the fire to be like a wall, but he also made it so the wall would approach before dawn the next morning. It'd be the first thing they'd see after waking up.

That meant lighting up the trees in the dead of night. Not the most cheerful of circumstances considering he had to deal with dancing shadows across his body and the bright fire against pitch darkness. Those shadows were the worst, causing him to constantly look over his shoulder, thinking a beast was behind him.

It took over two hours of trial and error to set it up just right, but an event like this was too good to mess up. Watching the small flames lick out to nearby trees, he marveled at his work, then traveled to the future on one of Mossflower's coasts.

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><p>Constance was always the first beast of Redwall to wake up, peering outside the window of her room to welcome the new morning. Every day she anticipated the pleasure of seeing the blue sky and how it complemented the stone wall surrounding the window, cast in a golden hue by the sun's rays. At first, today seemed no different. In her bed, she felt heat across her face and opened her eyes, expecting to see the sun shining outside the window. The whole room was dark however. It's probably an hour or two before dawn, she thought. Slowly glancing towards the window, she saw a gray sky. Sure, that would explain it. But it didn't explain a faint rumbling sound, constant and unsettling. Constance rose out of bed, curious to identify the sound. She had never heard anything like it, and certainly never in the morning. Looking out the window and down towards the trees that surrounded the Abbey, she assumed she was still dreaming. The trees were on fire. The orange glow from the fire was almost blinding given the dark sky she had just become accustomed to. She rubbed her eyes just to be sure. Then again. And again. With a sense of urgency, but still in disbelief, she quietly rushed out onto the east Abbey wall. She didn't want to arise a panic, so nobody had to know yet. And she still needed to think of a plan, for in times of crisis a plan should be available to reassure the young ones that they're not doomed.<p>

The humid breeze and the distinct smell of smoke in the air convinced Constance that this was no dream. She instantly regretted having to be the one to pull the Abbey through this situation, but damned if she was going to watch her friends die. Her first instinct was to assess how much time was available. Looking at the front gate from her vantage point, the flames would reach it in a few minutes. After that, the only viable alternative would be to use rope to climb down the west wall, where the fire would reach last. Currently the fire was past the east wall, nearly surrounding half the Abbey. Packing food would be out of the question; not everyone would be able to evacuate in time, and getting outside help was unknown at this point, so they needed to save as much food as possible to prepare for a siege. Also, there should be prioritization on who leaves first… Dibbuns and some experienced foragers. The flames were high enough that they could block access to the outside walls should a tree coincidentally fall in exactly the right spot — she couldn't be wrong for expecting the worst — but fortunately it didn't look like the path to the bell tower would be obstructed. Someone needs to go up there and ring out a warning. Oh, and don't waste water trying to douse the fire, there's too much of it and water will soon become a precious commodity.

She thought about all these things while racing around to wake up Matthias and Cornflower, her first two candidates of choice. Matthias had shown great initiative and determination in matters concerning Cluny the Scourge, and he seemed close to Cornflower. Try as she might, Constance couldn't hide the fear in her voice as she cried out to the two mice. "Matthias, wake up, leave the Abbey this instant. Cornflower? Cornflower, where are you? Cornfl— Cornflower! Get up, leave the Abbey now, there's no time, it's an emergency!" The two mice complied as soon as they saw the serious badger face looming over them, staring directly into their eyes. Constance felt the need to push them to hurry them along, but they were so convinced of the urgency in her voice that they ran like lightning, instinctively to the front gate. Constance ran after them to ensure the gate wasn't engulfed in flames (it was probably shorter than running upstairs to look from atop the walls), and if it was engulfed, then she'd suggest the alternative route of using ropes over the wall. Looked clear, but by this time it was a matter of seconds before the flames blocked the front exit. Matthias and Cornflower ran outside without prodding, then looked back and became terrified when it dawned on them that their lives were at stake and that they would likely never return to Redwall.

Constance poked her head out from the opened gate, head turned to see the mice make their escape, with a face unmistakably of worry. Those two mice were now out of her control. With a heavy heart she had to accept that now she could only pray for them, knowing in the end that her efforts could have been in vain. The look on Constance's face was the last thing Matthias and Cornflower would ever see of the Abbey. It was a haunting image, made surreal by the fire right behind her, nothing but flame covering the vision to the east save for the figure of the badger. Constance was always the mother of Redwall Abbey, revered for strength, experience, and values. If she bared her teeth, vermin were going to die. If she smiled, you were going to be OK. Needless to say, her face of worry was unsettling and dreadful, as if she wasn't confident that they were going to live. The whole exchange lasted a few seconds, ending when Constance went back into the Abbey to avoid getting burned. With the mice no longer transfixed by her gaze, they ran off.

Back inside, now with the luxury of time that a siege afforded, Constance wondered if letting Matthias and Cornflower run off was really the best thing to do. At least during a siege they'd last a while, but this was outlasting a forest fire, there was no telling how long it'd take. She was distracted upon hearing someone weakly ringing the Abbey bell.

Captain Snow didn't think much of Redwall but knew a fire was bad for anybeast, so he flew by and was astonished to see a lack of activity. Thinking everyone was still sleeping, he grasped the bell rope with his beak and flew up and down as powerfully as he could. It wasn't much, but it was enough to attract the attention of Constance and a few others, including Joseph the Bellmaker. Constance almost ran into Joseph when running up to the bell tower. Relieved of that duty, Constance remembered that there was still the west wall to attend to ("I forgot about the ropes!"), heading straight for it. The fire was advancing so quickly that by the time she got to it, she had to give up the idea of ropes and instead form a meeting to work out a plan of survival. The members of the Abbey would wake up soon.

Joseph met with Captain Snow at the top of the bell tower. Trying to resume focus after being distracted by the bird's size, Joseph approached the bell rope, signaling for Snow to let go.

Snow took the opportunity to ask, "Do you know who did this?" referring to the fire.

"I don't know. I don't understand why anyone would do this."

"Was it accidental? A brush-fire, perhaps?"

"Not when it covers every direction." To the east, everywhere on the horizon there were flaming trees. "Please help us."

Joseph's request received a knowing glance from Snow, and he immediately started flying west. Snow knew where to seek help: Salamandastron. Meanwhile Joseph rang the bell as hard and long as he could, alerting everyone within earshot of the peril the Abbey was in.

A congregation of Redwallers came rushing to where Constance was. For the moment she was the center of attention. She stood in the middle of the hall alone while the rest were near one of the entrances to another room.

Abbot Mortimer was the first to speak. "Constance, please enlighten us on what's going on. I fear the worst."

"I didn't want to cause a panic, but there's no hiding it, the Abbey's surrounded by fire."

The Abbot was quick to react to the cries of anguish and despair. "Silence! Constance, what are our options?"

"We're under siege until the fire clears. There's no way out of here."

"Hugo, report on our rations." The good friar ran off. Mortimer faced Constance again. "How long do you predict the siege will last?"

"That's not important. We should be concerned about how to survive for as long as possible."

"Thank you Constance. What's y—" The Abbot was interrupted by Skipper. "I think the question on all our minds is who did this?" The question was met with encouragement from the crowd, save for the passive Abbot and other elders.

Constance replied, "I don't know."

"It was Cluny, I know it!" shouted one enraged Redwaller. "How could you not know?" shouted another. "Vermin are despicable!"

The Abbot again had to silence the crowd. "Save your emotions until this siege has come to pass. We cannot lose sight of the issue that threatens us most."

Joseph came down from the bell tower. After growing weary of ringing the bell, he surveyed the area and returned with his observations. He was out of breath. "Fire surrounding the Abbey. I've sent for help, anyone taking over for me on the bell tower should watch for birds, we're expecting them."

"Good work," said the Abbot. With that acknowledgment, Joseph raced back up to the tower.

"Constance, what's— ah, Hugo, so how are we on rations?"

"Enough for maybe 20 days. Should be enough to wait out the fire, eh?"

"Indeed. Okay Constance, what's your plan?"

Slagar was on one of Mossflower's coasts, up to his knees in an ocean, watching the fire surround the Abbey. Or at least what little he could see of it. He hadn't thought about not being close enough to witness the chaos, given the danger of being seen. Just then he saw a white bird flying from the Abbey out west. Instinctively he crouched down into the water, knowing it was a halfhearted attempt to avoid being seen but better than nothing. The bird continued to hold his interest and eventually it appeared to be headed toward Salamandastron. This might be something he needs to keep an eye on. But again, nothing would happen for a while and it'd be a death wish to be anywhere near the mountain with a bunch of hares and a badger roaming about. He's got some time. He stood back up and continued to watch the fire move west.

* * *

><p>Basil was out taking a nap in the forest, not far from the Abbey, having chosen the spot because he had the right to drink in the wonderful scenery like anyone else. Visions of food comforted him, a feast at Redwall would be a great capper to a lazy morning. He was startled to consciousness at hearing two mice yelling in the distance. Evidently they spotted Basil snoozing.<p>

"Basil! Wake up! We've got to get out of here!" Matthias exclaimed.

"What are you yammering about? Can't a blooming hare sleep? Ah, I'm up, I'm up. Now what's got your tails in a knot? I'll have you know, I had pastries and leek soup with my name on it, but stripe me and call me a badger's uncle if those delectable delicacies didn't walk right off and drift away!" He was wiggling his paws in the air for effect.

His jaw fell open as he saw the giant fire behind the two mice. "Oh CORKS!" He dropped on all fours and beckoned the two mice to hop on. "Is there any hope for the Abbey?" Basil intended to ask whether he should race for the Abbey in case there was anyone else who could still be saved. The mice shook their heads, wanting to get going as soon as possible. "No one left AT ALL?" Again they shook their heads. "Face forward, hang tight, we're leaving this smoldering death trap behind!" He bolted west, instinctively toward Salamandastron.

Matthias and Cornflower could only bury their faces in Basil's fur to avoid becoming dizzy at the scenery flying by in a blur. Scared witless and with the safety of his passengers first on his mind, Basil ran as fast as he could. He wasn't going to let eventual sore legs spell the end for himself and his pals.

Cluny's guards watched the red glow of the sky for a few minutes before thinking to warn their boss. They first had to believe they weren't seeing things, so they hit each other with the staffs of spears.

Cheesethief was the first to burst into Cluny's room, ignoring his wounds. "Cluny, fire in the wood!"

"What?"

"Fire! Fire coming fast!"

"You're dreaming!" Cluny dismissed all warnings as hallucinations. There has never been a fire, he has never caused such a fire, so there can't be a fire.

"Not so, I got the bruises to prove it!"

Then Darkclaw came in. "The forest is on fire!"

"No it isn't! No fool would ever do that!"

Threeclaw was next. "I really think you should look at this!"

"Morons! I'm going to go out there and show you there's no aaaAAAAAH! FIRE! Why didn't anyone TELL me! Move out!" Cluny's sudden exit persuaded the others to similarly abandon whatever belongings they had in the hideout and just run.

Constance's plan was to give everyone small rations, despite the abundance of food, to make the Abbey last as long as possible. She had already told the others that Matthias and Cornflower escaped. They all gave the mice their blessings. Whenever the residents of the Abbey weren't eating or feebly trying to distract themselves from the dire situation, they were usually at the tapestry. Everyone took turns praying to Martin. Despite these efforts, a bigger problem was consoling the Dibbuns. Faced with a sudden lifestyle change and the prospect of doom, only a few could resist wailing. Not a moment went by when the air wasn't disturbed by a Dibbun's cry. It was quickly disheartening the residents.

Basil stopped in his tracks when he spotted Cluny's horde running by. Maybe if he was lucky, no one would see him. Today wasn't that sort of day. He was stunned and about to run past them when Cluny appeared. Seeing Matthias there, Cluny deduced that the Abbey was gone, and with that he began to address them. "We both lost our homes. We both want to live. As long as we're in the same boat, we should try to get out together. But once we're out, all bets are off and you better run. What's the shortest way out of here?"

"We're headed west to Salamandastron, sir. That big mountain. There's a bunch of hares there like myself, and a big blooming badger that can help us. You know, I feel like a bump on a log, hadn't passed my mind that it'll take longer than a day to get through Mossflower."

They knew they had to think fast about a solution to this problem, because a fire doesn't stop for sleeping beasts. Cluny was first to suggest a solution. "We take turns. You sleep for a while, we'll drag you part of the way, we'll sleep, you drag us. We'll split ourselves in half so it's half of us dragging at a time."

"A slug would slug along faster than us!"

"You got a better idea, long ears?"

"As a matter of fact, chap, I do. Fire doesn't go into water, does it? No, of course it doesn't. We should head north to the River Moss, that's the biggest water I know of."

Matthias was quick to object. "But the fire's headed west. We lose time getting to Salamandastron and we lose time staying ahead of the fire."

Cornflower figured if they weren't headed toward Salamandastron, they'd do better to change course. "If we're headed north, then what's north of Mossflower? We can seek help there."

Basil replied, "Er, not familiar with what's north. What did you learn in your history classes?"

"Um… Martin the Warrior came from the north. He traveled south to Mossflower. There was a fort called Marshank, which should be long gone by now, and Martin stopped by Noonvale before launching his attack on Badrang."

"Noonvale! That sounds like a chipper place. Let's go there."

"Martin swore its location to secrecy. No one knows where it was."

"Then by luck we'll stumble upon a friend of Martin's and ask him where it is! Or her if it's a pretty gal, wot!"

Cluny interrupted. "We can't travel straight north, the fire will get to us. We're headed northwest. Once we're out of here, we'll have a second chance to decide where to go, and we'll be closer to Salaman— the mountain."

"The rat's using his noggin! Let's go to it! Quick's the word, sharp's the action!"

The two mice weren't ready to move. Matthias stopped him. "But Basil… Basil… we still haven't decided what to do when we have to sleep!"

"Er, uh, right you are… we'll drag each other and we'll hop into any bally lake we come across. How's that for a plan?"

"It will have to do, let's start moving! The fire's right on our tails!" Cluny and his horde were the first to run.

Basil and the mice didn't need to look back to know the fire was there, given the heat at the back of their heads, but they turned around anyway. The fire was indeed nearly up to their tails. Matthias and Cornflower hopped on and Basil raced off in the same direction Cluny went, soon overtaking them. Cluny was shouting before they were out of sight, "Don't leave us in the dust! Remember, we'll still have to drag you, and you'll drag us!"

Basil heeded the advice (without any acknowledgment, much to Cluny's disappointment) and kept running at full speed.

At the end of the first night since the fire started, morale was lower than ever. As the members of the Abbey rounded up the Dibbuns and tucked them into bed, they couldn't stop the Dibbuns from thinking horrible thoughts about what would happen. Despite multiple reassurances and the fact that the Abbey had been surrounded by fire all day, the Dibbuns all thought the Abbey was going to burn down. The Abbot pulled Constance aside for a quick word.

"The siege is taking its toll on our young ones. We are admittedly doing very well for the moment, but we're unable to pacify them. It's their well-being that is in crisis. I'm confident that as the siege goes on, these fears will be allayed and we'll more or less return to normal. But it's too much right now, we must do something to avoid cracking this early. We are stronger than this. Much stronger. The other things I fear are that the Dibbuns will become unruly, believing our way of life is breaking down and doing whatever they feel is vital for their survival, or that they will lose their trust in Martin. To say nothing of the danger to our trust in him. Please promise me you'll do your part to address these concerns. We will all address it, but it requires our complete participation."

"I promise, Abbot, but if you don't mind me saying, I think we're doing about all we can do. I'd like to see us pay less attention to the problem, pretend it doesn't exist to ease us into resuming normal Abbey life… except for the obvious like not being able to gather fresh berries for our feasts… but remain alert so that we can respond to whatever else is thrown our way."

"I agree, but I stress our most pressing problem right now is the well-being of our Dibbuns, which is spread throughout our Abbey. If you'll excuse me, I need my rest, I need time to think. Please keep me notified of any new developments, and don't hesitate to wake me during the night. If it means I have to wake later, so be it. Good luck to you and us all, I'll see you in the morning." Constance was the only one who heard it, the Dibbuns were fast asleep, occasionally wincing from their dreams but asleep nonetheless.

The Skipper went up to the bell tower to relieve Joseph of his duty. "Go down and get yourself some rest. Fur and seasons, only a day and you look like you haven't slept for four seasons! What's ailing you?"

Joseph indeed looked ill. He had bags under his eyes, face soaked in tears. His voice was weak and punctuated with pauses. "I'm… just so worried. This has never happened before. I— I—…" He took a moment to brush away his tears before continuing. "I'm looking for the bird. Help. Anything."

"Mate, don't worry, we're gonna get through this."

Joseph lowered his head as if he didn't believe Skipper's advice.

"Come here," the otter said. He walked in close and hugged Joseph, occasionally looking around for sight of anything in the sky. Skipper was so concerned that he took it upon himself to relieve Joseph indefinitely. "Listen to me, I want you to go to bed and not worry about the sky. I'm going to watch from the bell tower from now on. I'll find someone else to take over for me when my eyelids start to droop. I just don't think you're in any position to do this anymore. But that doesn't make you weak. I understand you're scared and want to make sure we take any opportunity that might help us. You think if we miss that bird it will doom us all. But it's too stressful. If I find myself in the same situation as you, I'll remind myself that there are others looking out for each other who would be happy to take up the post. You'll find companions back down at the Abbey and you'll realize that you're not alone. Now go. I want to see a smile out of you tomorrow, you hear?"

Joseph couldn't resist smirking. "Thank you."

"Ah, don't mention it. But I never get tired of hearing it. You take care, Joseph."

* * *

><p>Basil and the two mice fell asleep first, leaving Cluny and his horde to look after them. Since Basil wasn't sticking close to the others, Cluny and the rest discovered them sleeping in a pond, water up to the waist. Matthias and Cornflower were clinging to Basil's body, slightly bent forward in an upright sitting position. Basil had a smile on his face, probably dreaming about dancing bowls of ice cream. Cluny didn't like the idea of having to be the first to look over the others, but for better or worse they were allied with each other and he had to keep up his end of the bargain. Whether he'd revolt and leave them behind once they were nearly out of Mossflower would have to wait. The rats stood stout in the pond, surrounding the hare. The flames soon arrived and circled the pond, obscuring their vision. The rats sank down into the pond up to their necks to avoid having sweltering bodies. Having just a hot head wasn't any better, but there they were, stuck in this pond until the flames passed. As smoke started to invade the air above them, Cluny was slowly realizing that perhaps this wasn't such a smart idea.<p>

Basil woke up a few hours later coughing. "What's going on? Oh, corks, the fire got to us. Hey rats," he splashed the water with a smart thwack to get their attention, "rats, eyes open. This is all becoming a bother on our jolly lungs. Do you think we should go to Plan B?" He heard Matthias and Cornflower starting to cough. "Sharpish?"

Cluny's expression seemed to blame Basil for their predicament, because they were forced into this position and then didn't think quick enough to get out of it. Not wanting to raise tempers, he instead took the blame. "It's my fault, alright? We should have dragged each other. Now we're stuck here. What's Plan B?"

"I don't know, I thought you had a Plan B."

"Plan B: Run out there and scorch yourself."

"Well it's bally well better than Plan C: Suffocate to death." Basil started to rise, disturbing the sleeping mice and stirring them awake. "What's up, what's going on? Ba—Basil! We're surrounded! What— who— what are we doing here! What do we do?"

"Just a moment, lad. We're deciding on a plan."

Matthias coughed. "Well hurry up, we're choking here!"

Cluny took a quick glance northwest, noticing that some of the trees were spread out, creating clear but thin passages where flames hadn't yet formed. It was possible to run through the fire without completely bursting into flame, but it was going to hurt. "We'll have to run a long way to catch up to the edge of the fire."

"That's okay. Okay chaps, allow me to lay this out. Matthias, Cornflower, stir your stumps, you'll want to hear this too. We're here now. We'll suffocate if we stay here. Our only option is to run through the forest, fire and all. We want to live to sleep another day under a tree with the birds chirping and the sun kissing our faces."

Cluny had to ruin the mood. "No sun's gonna kiss my face, I'll slay it if it even tries it."

"You'll be sleeping in your royal bed then, sir. That's all there is. The longer we wait, the more likely we'll become toast. And not the good kind. The kind where it's so crunchy you'd swear it'd break your tee—"

"Get to the damn point, rabbit!"

"I'm not a rabbit, sir, I'm a hare! Anyway, as I was saying, the bad kind of toast. Get ready for burns, 'cause we're charging through that fire! I say, before we do, should we discard our clothing? It's only going to catch on fire."

Cluny took off his cloak and dropped it into the pond, forcing it down with his foot. He picked it back up and slung it over his shoulder, water dripping down his back. "It's not going to help much, but I want to live a few seconds longer than the rest of you if you don't mind."

"Super wheeze, sir! Anyone who wants to follow his plan, do so. Me, I like the idea." Basil unbuttoned his outfit, took it off, and drenched it in water. He turned to Matthias and Cornflower, who were looking around dumbfounded. "What-ho, what's the matter young ones, don't fancy the idea?" The two mice made a great show of refusing. They'd keep their clothes on, thank you very much. "Suit yourself! Suit? Hahaha!" He recovered the outfit and buttoned it back on. "I'm freezing but I feel much better!"

"You'll want to get rid of that when it does catch fire, you know," Cluny said as he dipped his cloak in the water again. Figuring he'd never return to this spot, he was going to make liberal use of the water available. The other rats mimicked their master. Then Basil thought to heck with it and dove into the pond, splashing water on everyone else.

Basil looked ridiculous when wet, but it hadn't dampened his attitude. "Are we ready?" Everyone was shivering from the cold water, but rejuvenated and ready to fight for their lives. "Right, charge!"

By this time Snow had reached Salamandastron and alerted the badger there of the fire. It was unnecessary, they had known about this for a while because the fire was plainly visible from far away. What did catch their attention was hearing that a couple mice were trying to escape the forest, and that they were headed directly west from the Abbey. The badger lord immediately sent twenty hares out to retrieve them, packing enough food and water for a few days between them all, along with torches. Lighting the torches would be simple, just dip them in the fire. In the meantime there was the matter of the fire itself. There was no way that enough water could be gathered to put out all of Mossflower, or even a considerable chunk of it. As much as it pained the badger to accept it, everyone would have to wait for the fire to dissipate on its own before marching to Redwall Abbey. The remaining patrollers, those sent to rescue the survivors at the Abbey, would form a long straight line and carry enough food and water to sustain the Abbey for a month (plus whatever amount was necessary to feed the hares to get them there, which would double the amount they planned to carry). At least that was the plan. It remained to be seen what the patrollers could come up with and how long they had to do it in. No one had any idea how long Mossflower would burn. It was a huge place.

The help couldn't come soon enough. Basil and the others were getting scorched alive trying to get ahead of the fire. Although they ran fast enough to avoid being engulfed in flames, they couldn't help yelping at the burns they racked up along the way. Old burns had singed the fur around them and numbed those areas, leading to an uncomfortable sensation of sweltering heat, the feeling all over of the pressure of a needle tip not quite penetrating the skin, and a perceived restricted freedom of movement. The water they doused themselves with earlier had evaporated after the first minute. Matthias and Cornflower eventually had to give in and take off their clothes to avoid getting incinerated, with Basil and the others furiously ripping the clothes off as fast as they could. The longer they stood stationary trying to rip off clothes, the more likely they'd catch on fire. Catching on fire was inevitable, so the team occasionally had to stop to roll along the ground. No one was talking since all they could do was to cry out in pain. Basil and Cluny led the pack, with Basil purposefully not running at full speed so he could help out the others. Matthias and Cornflower were next in line, and Cluny's horde took up the rear. The horde was the worst off, with a few dead and the others looking ready to give up at any moment.

More than a few times, Basil secretly wanted to push Cluny over or throw a swift uppercut to his jaw, knowing Cluny was responsible for putting them in the thick of the fire. Just one simple push or bop on the nose and the rat would be down and motionless, long enough to succumb to the flames. That wouldn't be very sporting though, and Basil didn't want to risk being denied medical attention for doing something dishonorable. Cluny shrugged off Basil's glares of hatred towards him, since there wasn't time to think about anything else other than survival.

And then by good fortune, eventually the team got ahead of the fire. The fresh air wafting in was refreshing. It took them all by surprise that they slowed to a stop and took a moment to appreciate it. Everyone but Cluny had forgotten that there was still a fire racing towards them, so Cluny quickly yelled out "RUN!" to get the team moving again. Basil was under the impression that they were nearly out of Mossflower, and ran ahead.

Matthias had to ask, "Where's Basil going?"

Cluny responded, "Ah let him go, he's probably anxious to get out. How's everyone holding up?"

"Fine, I suppose." Matthias turned and got a halfhearted nod out of Cornflower. Cluny's horde was slowly shambling along, on its last legs and too tired to speak. Matthias was thinking about saying "I don't think your horde's going to make it", but instead opted for something less morbid. "Your horde looks like it's in trouble."

Cluny didn't feel like acknowledging his followers. He was more concerned about staying alive and finding a new home, though that didn't look to be a problem since one look at Cluny suggested he was the best off of the team. While the rest were hunched over or visibly exhausted, Cluny was still upright and very active. If the members of his horde were near death now, then they were worthless to him. He could find more vermin wherever his new home would be, supposedly.

Cornflower felt pity for the vermin, especially after not hearing a response from Cluny. "Come on, not much further, you can do it!" The vermin perked up, looking in the distance for any sign of being near the edge of the forest.

Cluny was quick to scold the mouse. "You don't know that we're almost out!"

"I was just trying to be helpful, you heartless monster."

"Hey! Keep that mouth of yours zipped, or you're a deadbeast!"

Cornflower kept her mouth shut, and looked back to see the horde hanging their heads low again.

Basil was overexerting himself, so glad to be free that he was in a madness. At the back of his mind he knew he was probably in great pain, and thought that no one was coming to help, so the sooner he got out the better. He justified leaving his friends in the dust by continuing to travel northwest, so that the others would eventually catch up. They were past the fire, they could help themselves. Fatigue started to set in, with heavy breathing and a lopsided gait. One leg seemed to hurt more than the other, wonder why that was. His plan was to run until he collapsed. At least he was far enough ahead that he could afford the rest. It wasn't a sensible strategy, but again, Basil was under a madness and not thinking straight. At one point he couldn't lift his right leg, causing him to trip and fall. Ah, finally, rest. Basil lay there, not giving any thought that he was laying on top of his left leg, feeling nothing but the cool grass touching his face. Just a short nap, he deserved it.

The patrollers sent out to recover the survivors were getting worried. They went directly east from Salamandastron and came across nothing but the fire. They had already figured on alternating hares so one half of the group would be awake (enough) when the other half was feeling sleepy, though it was short notice. Stopping as soon as the fire was seen in the distance, the hare Starbuck stepped forward and took charge, briefing the other hares on what to do next. "Right, listen up chaps. We're not going to come back empty-pawed. They must have gone in a different direction. They might have the fire lapping at their heels, so half of you will go north along the fire edge, the other half will go south", pointing north and south respectively as he spoke. "That means… half goes northwest, half goes southwest. The longer this fire goes on, as long as we walk the edge back and forth, we'll cover all that remains of Mossflower. As soon as one half finds them, or reaches the end of Mossflower, travel back to the other half. When both halves meet, we'll report. We won't have time to do a second run-through, our supplies will be low by then." Starbuck put one paw out in front of him, aiming it at the squadron of hares gathered in a circle as if he was going to cut it in half. He used this judgment to determine who would constitute each half, walking through the squadron and pushing the hares apart to make two groups. "All of you go north, the rest of you go south. I will go… north. First hare to spot and point out the pals we're looking for gets a feast back at Salamandastron, if our lord's allowing. Everyone ready? Go!" The patrollers split and ran close to the wall of fire, each trying to outrun each other. Starbuck seemed disinterested in the idea of a feast and ran to the side of the patrollers going northwest to avoid getting jostled or trampled.

Cluny, Matthias, and Cornflower were getting tired. Hearing the screams of rats slipping behind and getting incinerated spurred Cornflower to action. She grabbed the rat nearest to her, realized she couldn't carry the fellow, and hurled the rat onto Cluny's shoulders. "You take him!"

The sudden weight put pressure on Cluny's wounds, bringing the pain to his mind and causing his arms to tremble as he struggled to carry the beast. "I… am… not… carrying… this piece… of junk! Yah!" He threw the rat behind him right into the fire and kept on going. "Thanks a lot for putting out my back! Hell, that hurt!" He was hunched over and limping, unable to ignore the shooting pains.

Cornflower was furious at seeing the last of the horde die, and kicked the back of Cluny's leg to send him tumbling to the ground. Matthias cried out "What did you do that for?" and set upon trying to help the rat back up. "Cornflower, put his right paw over your shoulder. I'll do the same with his left paw. Then walk. He's a big one, running might trip us up." The two mice got into position, propping Cluny up and holding his weight between them. The rat was grimacing with eyes shut, indicating mind-numbing pain. Cornflower was still trying to decide whether it was right to save Cluny. "Matthias, why are we saving him again?"

He was taken aback by the insensitivity of the question, considering Cluny might have heard her asking whether the rat's life was worth saving, and responded with "He helped us, it's only right."

"How?"

"Believe me, his heart's in the right place. He looked over us at the lake. He also forgot about the fire, but that was just a mistake."

"Well, I know I don't want a defenseless creature to burn, but was he the one who started the fire?"

"Doesn't matter right now."

"He wanted to take over the Abbey, although now it's gone."

"Listen, we could go over this all day. If we didn't save him just now, he wouldn't be here, and we wouldn't be having this talk." That was enough to get Cornflower to stop talking.

However, their fatigue meant they couldn't keep going like this. Eventually they'd slow down and become victims of the fire along with Cluny. Matthias shouted for help as a last resort, waiting a few moments without answering. He told Cornflower that they'd have to desert Cluny. Matthias dropped the rat's arm and beckoned for Cornflower to follow. She parted with "I'm so sorry…" before leaving the rat. Matthias put his arm around Cornflower once she got close to prevent her from looking back, then helped bring her head to rest on his chest. He intentionally made sure both her ears were blocked so she wouldn't have to hear Cluny's death cries. Matthias just had to live with it.

* * *

><p>Basil eventually woke from his nap, and attempted to stretch. "YOW!" He propped up his upper body with his paw, trying to get a good look at his right leg. Anytime it moved a little, there was a paralyzing pain. Feeling around his ankle, he deduced that he sprained it. No problem, he'd grab a nearby stick and use it as a crutch. He tried lifting his left leg but couldn't. "Corks, I've lost the use of my legs! …oh, wait, haha, this one's just asleep." Shifting his weight onto his other paw, he tried rousing the leg with the free paw. While he did that, he looked around for a good stick to use. He couldn't see very well in the dark, so he crawled along as he felt around. After his left leg started to wake up, he picked himself up and took one step forward with it, crashing back down to the ground in pain from the sprained ankle. Idea! He'd put his right leg in the air and try to lock it in place somehow, maybe wrap it around some part of himself. As he was trying to figure this out, Matthias and Cornflower came running up. Matthias didn't know what Basil was up to, but it looked like he was lazing the day away. "Basil, stop fooling around, we still have a fire behind us!"<p>

"My ankle's sprained! Be a good lad and find a stick for me to use, will you? Uh, two if you can find them. Hey Cluny, still in good shape? …hey, where did that rat go? Did he get left behind or something?"

Cornflower was standing around, not wanting to answer. Matthias found a couple sticks and answered for her. "Cluny didn't survive. I've got the two sticks you wanted, what did you want them for?"

"…so it's just us now? How's that for a slice of bad news? He looked the best out of all of us! Oh, the two sticks are for crutches, like so… okay, I think I'm good now." Basil hopped around on one foot to test it out. "Jolly good! As we were, chaps, keep moving!"

Matthias interrupted. "We're tired, Basil."

"Oh. …hey, hop on my back again!"

"You can't hop us out of here." Matthias doubted the hare could do much while on crutches.

"Don't you say what I can and can't do! I can too hop us out of here! Are you getting on or not?"

Matthias helped Cornflower get onto Basil's back, then he got on. Both of them had arms around Basil's neck. It took a while for Basil to get used to hopping on one foot, but soon he got the hang of it. It was slow going however, and eventually the fire appeared on the horizon, signaling they didn't have much time. "Basil, you need to get rid of the sticks and run!" He dropped the sticks and took a step, collapsing to the ground in pain and causing the two mice to tumble off. "Leave me behind, chaps, no good for you two to perish around this rotter. Tell them you were served bravely by the noble Basil Stag Hare!"

Starbuck and a team of hares arrived behind them just then. "Hello there, we're here to help you escape! Two of you alternators, Fleetpaw and Thrush, go south and tell the others. The rest of us are carrying the lot of you out as fast as our legs are willing!" Two hares carried Basil between them, ignoring his protests of "You blighters, don't forget my hopping sticks! I've got bad legs! Yow! Spare some thought and be gentle!" Starbuck went straight for Matthias and beckoned him to hop on, another hare carried Cornflower on his back. The rest of the hares took up the rear for backup assistance. In a flash they were racing away from the fire, approximating what they imagined to be a beeline back to Salamandastron.

Matthias couldn't help but wonder about their good luck. "How did you find us? Why now when the fire was about to catch up to us?"

Starbuck replied, "Someone had to be your miracle."

Through the combination of speedy hares and alternating the troops so they'd keep going, they reached the coast the next afternoon. Everyone threw off their pack of food and fell onto the sand in relief. The hares were breathing heavily and painfully sprawled out. There they rested for a long while, generously taking advantage of being out of the fire's reach. Once Matthias gained his footing, he stumbled over to each hare and thanked them, usually getting no more than a weak nod in response. He was about to thank Basil when the south-bound troops arrived. Not far behind them was the fire, a safe distance away but loud enough to break the peace.

One of the hares felt no sympathy for the collapsed north-bound troops and spoke up, "Bad form resting here, Salamandastron's a short jaunt north. We don't rest until we're all inside the mountain. Pick up your packs and move, it's not much further."

No one moved.

"Right, get moving now or you'll be reported to our lord for disobeying orders."

Starbuck barked back, "Our half found the Redwall survivors, our half did a nonstop run to the coast, our half did the work and has the appointed leader of this operation: me. We're out of harm's way, we deserve rest. I don't care if it's two hops to the mountain, you grant us time to return on our own accord or you do something useful and send out additional troops to get us. If it's as short a jaunt as you say, you shouldn't go hungry trying to pull that off. Go."

There was no need for second bidding, the hare did as was asked and fetched additional troops to bring the rest of the team back to the mountain.

Matthias, Cornflower, and Basil weren't ready to talk until the next morning. Until then, their burns were tended to, they were given wet cloths to cool off with, and had spare uniforms draped over them for clothing. The next day everyone was seated at the dining table. The two mice were uncomfortably the focus of attention being seated at one end while the sides were filled with numerous hares and the badger lord Urthwyte at the other end. It was small consolation for Basil to be seated next to the mice, as he tended to blend in with the other hares and showed no signs of wanting to hover around for support. Basil was seated due to orders, meetings like this always had to be formal affairs. Everyone stared in anticipation, waiting to hear the story. And so Matthias recollected the events with Cornflower filling in the gaps.

When they were done, Urthwyte started to speak. "It's very fortunate that you're alive. Our concern is saving the lives of those trapped at the Abbey, but right now we can't do anything on land and it's too risky to help by air. We had Captain Snow fly over the Abbey and he can't see it anymore, not with all the smoke, and it's thick enough to be suffocating. In short there's nothing we can do but wait for the fire to die down. With you two and Basil being the only Redwallers to escape, it's crucial that we protect you. The Abbey's had a long reputation and there are many beasts who'd be willing to continue its traditions. We think it'd be best to have an original Redwaller or two take the lead in building a new Abbey. One that's not around any trees preferably. We will help in building it, but since it's dangerous to leave our post for too long, other woodlanders will have to come to replace us at the building site. When the fire dies down, we have a plan to rescue any survivors. That will be carried out when the time comes, I don't want you two or Basil going anywhere, you'll stay here. Is there anything you want to add?"

Matthias couldn't think of anything, though he felt restricted being told to stay put, and the idea of a new Abbey so soon seemed disrespectful. This made him think of a question. "When we go into the Abbey, if there are any that didn't make it, will you bury them?"

Urthwyte fought back a tear as he responded "Of course, of course, right next to the Abbey if you prefer." He sensed this wasn't the appropriate time to bring up his belief that it was more a matter of "how many of them die" rather than "if any of them die".

Basil asked a question of his own. "What's with the bally nerve of calling us "you two and Basil"? I'm as much a member of their group! I may not be a resident Redwaller to tell the truth, but I do generously accept the distinction of being a survivor. You will refer to us as us three!"

Urthwyte rolled his eyes. "You three. Are there any other questions, any that aren't personal complaints?"

Basil rolled his eyes, "Not a complaint, sir, just a vital correction."

"Alright, if there's no other questions, this meeting's over. We'll treat you three guests the best we can, there's a dormitory all to yourself you can use, we'll hold our next meeting as soon as the forest fire gets low. Dismissed!"

Matthias perched himself next to the window in the dormitory, watching the flames. Cornflower urged him to rest in bed but he refused. She briefly thought about asking Basil whether he knew of any games to pass the time with, then sulked and left the room to find something constructive to do. Like help with making weapons perhaps, just any kind of chore that needed to be done. Basil didn't stop either of them because he didn't know what to do to cheer them up at this point.

* * *

><p>Several days went by as the Redwallers waited for the fire to die out. Every morning Constance would walk up to the same window in her room, only for her hopes to be dashed as the flames remained as vigorous as ever. She didn't know how long the fire should take, but knew that it was getting harder and harder to keep the residents calm. What seemed like a minor siege at first was starting to sink in as a changed way of life lasting an indefinite time, with the Dibbuns starting to consciously eat less and restraining themselves from asking for desserts.<p>

Friar Hugo was bad at keeping everyone at ease when their situation got worse. First it was casually strolling into the Great Hall and providing a reminder that their supplies were half gone. This brought about another impromptu discussion on conserving their food, especially when comparing to Hugo's initial estimate. Then it was Hugo barging into the hall and exclaiming that they had only a couple days worth of supplies left. This was despite everyone making their best effort to eat meager rations, hinting that their only reward would be to die a little later. Morbid proposed decisions started flying about such as deciding who to stop feeding, all of which would get shot down by Constance and the Abbot in the interest of peace. What wasn't said is that Constance and the Abbot were having frequent private meetings discussing these issues, knowing they'd have to be addressed soon, but they kept coming to the conclusion that there were no sensible decisions that would keep them going for a significant amount of time. The severe actions that remained would destroy their principles and turn it into every beast for themselves. Their solution was to continue as they were, then try to perish quickly and painlessly. Now Hugo slowly wandered into the hall, weeping and announcing that they were clean out of everything. No food, no drink. The resulting panic was deafening. This was too much for Abbot Mortimer who marched over to Hugo and shoved him outside the room, barely repressing his anger as he spoke in a harsh whisper.

"What is wrong with you, this is not what we need! In matters as desperate as this, you speak directly to Constance or me! It's too late now. You're relieved of your duty as cook. Either you can go work in the infirmary because we'll have a lot of sick beasts during our final days, or you get to help look after our dying."

Hugo asked meekly, "…what's the point of an infirmary now, if we're all going to… you know, not be here much longer…"

Mortimer struck him in the chest and grabbed his collar, bringing him face to face. "You'll do as I say. We won't be slaying anyone, but your competency in these final moments will decide how I judge you, and how this Abbey will judge you, in times after death. This is why we have our Abbey recorder standing by, ready to record every last detail, how our behavior would start to break down, how we choose to face the demise of a small society. And I will tell him what you did. From here on out every decision must be made with the utmost of care as we won't get the chance to explain what we meant to do or have the chance to do it over. With luck others will find our recorder's journal. They will know about all this. It's not just that I want us to be noble, but also demonstrate that we have a strong enough spirit that a tragedy of this magnitude can't crush. And that would show it is worth preserving what we fought so long to embody, so that it may continue in a new area. We don't want other beasts to say "this place is nice, but there will never be another Redwall", we want them to say "Redwall lives on here." And it'd give credibility to Matthias if he decides to create another Abbey like this one."

Hugo had a hard time speaking after that, fully agreeing with the Abbot, not wanting to kill the mood with the couple of nagging doubts he had. He just nodded.

"Good, we're done here. Now where are you headed, may I assume the infirmary?"

"…Abbot… two things. First, uh, beautiful speech, but couldn't you say that to the rest of them? The thing about the spirit and outlasting the tragedy? I think that might do some good… and second, you said we're showing our society's worth preserving because of how we handle this disaster. …I don't get it. The many seasons we've lived here up to this point, do they say nothing? Wouldn't they be a better indicator? Our reputation, no one would forget it. I'm sure that if we completely blew it in the end they wouldn't think anything less of us. I mean, how did Loamhedge deal with their last days?"

"…what was that, if we "completely blew it"? Our recorder should be delighted to hear that. Now then, how did Loamhedge deal with it? Did you remember nothing from history classes? They were infected with a plague and had to flee. Those that were healthy were brought to Mossflower, one of them being a founder of Redwall, Abbess Germaine, who set upon creating a new Abbey to continue what Loamhedge started. They didn't let their dreams get taken out by an epidemic."

"So it's the same thing here right? Matthias would be the new Germaine, everything's fine. …except the residents of Loamhedge were able to escape and we can't."

"I believe those who died at Loamhedge did so peacefully given the circumstances. We would like to do the same. Is there anything else?"

"No. Well, except maybe you could just ignore that whole "completely blew it" thing. You were the only one who heard it. I apologize, I didn't mean it."

"No, you did. I'm not being cruel here, I'm just making clear that everything has a consequence now. Please conduct yourself better from now on. Now go do something useful, I've got my own work to attend to."

With that, Mortimer went back into the hall. Hugo stood shivering, thinking about how history would look back on him. He wasn't a bad mouse by any stretch, why is it now that he's getting reprimands for what seem like minor things? The Abbot sure seemed decided on it, there would be no use arguing this further. He took off his hat and dropped it on the floor, scratched his head, then wandered off toward the infirmary, all the while with a blank stare and mouth open, not ever being sure if he was on the right track to redeem himself.

It had been a week since the Mossflower fire started. Slagar was just as perplexed as anyone that it hadn't finished burning out yet. This was the time that Mark would come back and see how things were going, but he forgot about that. So he was in for a nasty surprise when he heard Mark call his name from afar, wading through the ocean towards him. He wasn't sure who it was at first and scrambled onto shore to get better footing to run away. He ran even faster after realizing he was being chased. Whoever it was wasn't letting up and would soon overtake him. As a last-ditch effort he dove into the ocean, then got tackled underwater and dragged back on shore. Mark made sure to sit on Slagar's legs so he couldn't escape. This wasn't a very comfortable restraining position, not being able to move his legs, back arched due to the downward slope of the coast, ears halfway submerged underwater. At least the sun wasn't in his eyes, since the smoke was doing a good job blocking it. Mark was not pleased with having to chase down the animal he entrusted the crystal ball to.

"When you run away from me, that makes me believe you haven't been making sound decisions."

"I'm innocent, I haven't done any— who are you? Hey, you look like that fellow I met a while ago… oh, you ARE that fellow. Look, I didn't know it was you, I thought you were someone out to get me!"

"Mm-hmm, can we move on?"

"Right, yes, the crystal ball thing. Everything's fine. No worries. See, I burned down Mossflower. Er, in the process of burning it."

"Yes, can you tell me how that's wise?"

"…because… well I tried everything else, those woodlanders are a hardy bunch. Nothing gets rid of them except for this."

"Again, how is that wise?"

"Because they interfere with my plans! You can't rule over a kingdom unless you've wiped out or broken all of them."

"Yes except you're also burning down your kingdom. And what good is an empty kingdom?"

He continued through clenched teeth, "Just trust me, this had to be done."

"If you don't give me a convincing reason why this is good for the world, I'll have to ask you to undo it and I'll take that ball away from you."

"Listen, do you believe that vermin like me can lead to a better world if we could actually do what we wanted? I mean, if our plans worked."

"I implicitly agreed to that when I gave you the crystal ball, yes."

"Right, well, Redwall Abbey's the big obstacle to every vermin plan that's ever existed. And if we try taking over some other woodlander's home, guess who they call for help?"

"Redwall."

"Yeah. I'm doing a service to all my brethren by taking them out. And once this fire's out, I am going over to that Abbey and killing any survivors."

"Were there any that escaped before the fire surrounded Redwall?"

This seemed like a good time to lie. He remembered seeing the hares reach the coast, but didn't see anything out of the ordinary like any mice. The bird that flew from Redwall was the only thing he was concerned about, but after not seeing any more bird activity since then, decided it was just a fluke. He had his doubts though, and was determined to make sure there were no lingering problems, right after getting rid of Mark. "No. Not that I know of, I mean. I've kept a careful watch, there's no remaining threats. All of my problems are inside that fortress, and soon they'll just disappear."

"All right, sounds like you've got things under control. How much more time do you think you need? I know a week was too short to accomplish anything of any importance."

"How much more time… you mean, before I'm done making all the changes I want?"

"Yes."

"…how long can you give me at most?"

"Okay, let's put this another way, is burning down Mossflower the only thing you plan to do?"

"No, I might travel back in time again or something. Maybe screw around with Martin some more."

"To finish this fire and… screwing around with Martin, as you said… how long do you think that will take?"

"…how long will you give me?"

"Damn it, just give me a time frame!"

"One season! One season!"

"One… season? That's too long. I'll give you two weeks."

"…what's that in seasons?"

"It's about, er… one sixth of a season. Something like that. A really short time for you, so get to work."

Mark vanished into thin air, prompting Slagar to sit up and comprehend what just happened. If he's only going to have a short time to do what he wants, then he was going to forget about the investigation and mess around with Martin. Which he couldn't do yet because it'd erase all the work he's done thus far. He thought about this for a while, watching the fire burn still. When was it going to go out? He didn't want to end it prematurely in case the Redwallers were still alive. But he didn't want to keep it going if it would eat up precious time. A few more days then. He'd wait a few more days, and if the fire didn't show any signs of stopping by then, then he would stop it. Maybe.

* * *

><p>With no food or water, the health of the Redwallers dropped rapidly, and with the insistence of staying near each other for support, sicknesses spread fast. The deaths of a few Dibbuns brought morale into a free-fall, where the recorder was overworked keeping up with all the depressing developments and advice from the Abbot was starting to ring hollow and get ignored. With the infirmary filled and only tending to those who were most sick, Cavern Hole became the place to put the dying, and it was increasingly becoming the place no one wanted to be in. Before his eyes Abbot Mortimer was seeing a complete breakdown and an abandon of principles. Granted it wasn't as bad as it could be, at least they weren't eating each other, but that some of the Redwallers were becoming emotionally detached and ignoring pleas for help was getting to be too much. He was set on never having to resort to one last plan, of killing those worst off and putting their bodies elsewhere, and it was a position he made clear everyone knew. Dignity to the end, ignoring whatever merits mercy killing may or may not have.<p>

Being in the infirmary then was by contrast the place everybody wanted to be. The medical prowess of the nurses were as strong as ever, meaning those being attended to were getting better, even if it would relapse within moments of being in contact with the rest in Cavern Hole. Hugo was thanking his lucky stars that he chose the infirmary and was becoming an able assistant to Sister May. He took her advice to not think about what would happen to their patients after they left (get sick again and die). Helping Redwallers feel better, even if just a little, and hearing them say "thank you" was the rewarding part of this job. It was really the only thing preventing him from losing his mind. There was only room for a few nurses and assistants however, the rest were out of luck or had to wait around to relieve another of their duties. Hugo's favorite patient thus far was Silent Sam, picking up a nasty cough and running a fever. They connected somehow, perhaps just because anyone was tending to Sam's fever, and Sam's preferred display of gratitude was smiling a lot. There wasn't much that could be done without water, but cold dry towels were a good enough placebo. Eventually Sam had to be removed to let someone else take his place. Hugo stroked the Dibbun's head and hugged him before letting Sam go on his way back down to Cavern Hole. He wondered if he'd ever see that squirrel again.

Salamandastron was starting to become very different in tone, out of madness that the fire wasn't subsiding. Hares were being routinely sent out to gather food or look for any tribes who might be able to help when the time was right. Urthwyte was barking out orders and unable to be in a good mood around anyone. Cornflower had resigned herself to daily chores and generally being very quiet. Basil was wallowing in depression and wandered about just to see what was going on. He too was quiet, considering enough of the other hares had told him to stop whining and were starting to find him a nuisance. Matthias was usually staring out a window wherever he happened to be, but he also seemed to have a plan. He would occasionally go out with the hares that looked for tribes (after much persuading to Urthwyte that Matthias wouldn't kick the bucket with a bunch of hares surrounding him), more interested in finding a suitable spot for a future Abbey than any kind of help. He found one north that looked good, no trees about, desert, had a nice oasis nearby. He was a little scared of Urthwyte given the badger's recent behavior, so were the other hares, so talking about the future Abbey when outside of the mountain was a good way to unwind and talk freely. All the other hares were on board and willing to help in Matthias's plans. It'd have to be bigger than Redwall was, to maintain the grandeur and better prepare for the opportunities when woodlanders would decide to reside there. The structure would largely be the same as the Abbey was now, since there was nothing wrong with it before and it was reasonably efficient at spotting vermin from afar and reacting to threats. It still needed a name though. Until they thought of one, Matthias Abbey would have to do. Every trek back to the mountain required looking at the ever-burning fire however.

Slagar had decided enough was enough. He closed his eyes and made a wish for the fire to burn out. He opened his eyes. Nothing seemed to be happening. Well maybe it'd take a while. He looked closely to see if the fire was getting any smaller, but it didn't seem to. Again he closed his eyes and opened them again. It wasn't working. Maybe he was so passionate about starting the fire that he can't stop it again. This looked like a job for going back in time. He went back and imagined being next to his previous self. Next thing he recalled was a sharp pain on the side of his head and being yelled at by his past self.

"You have ten seconds to get out of here or I'm gonna hit you again!"

He took a moment to regain his senses. "You have to stop, once you start this fire it's going to cover the whole forest and it's never going to end. No matter what you do, you can't stop this fire."

"Why would I want it to stop? The amount of grief that I've been put through with THAT in my way should make this last for a lifetime."

"You're making a big mistake. Once you get this fire going, you won't be able to check up on them or hear their screams. No, they'd see you and they'd kill you."

"Oh, did you go in there? Did you almost get skewered by a mouse?"

"…I don't have to go in there to know how dangerous they are."

"You mean you haven't? You have them locked up in their fortress and you can't spare one moment to check in on them?"

He shook his head.

"How long have you not been checking in on them!"

"…uh, Mark came by to see me, this was when I thought the fire would be over by now and it wasn't. He gave me a little while more time, that fire wasn't going anywhere, so I came back here."

Past Slagar pulled back his paw with the torch in it, as if it were a dagger ready to strike. "I'm going to burn your face off!" Rather than run away from someone who would be as fast as he was, future Slagar took the chance to quickly travel through time just before the torch would have rammed into his face. He was now back on the coast where he was moments earlier, the fire still persistent. Reluctant to go inside the Abbey, he decided a few more days of waiting couldn't hurt. But now he would always occasionally look behind him, making sure his past self didn't follow him to carry out the threat.

Everyone was dropping like flies in the Abbey. The Abbot was no longer collected in his thoughts, his meetings with Constance were now nothing but laments. His eventual death had little fanfare as the residents couldn't sink much lower, though the recorder had a hard time dealing with it because of the long entry that had to be written to honor his memory. Constance fell soon after, followed by the other elders. The Abbey was now a very lonely place, with few residents left. The infirmary members had given up after hearing news of the Abbot's death, and with that went Hugo's lifeline. And soon there was only one mouse breathing.

The Abbey recorder for Redwall took a deep breath and began to write what he believed would be his final entry.

"It's with great sadness that I report we have lost Sam today. Content to idly pass the time sucking his thumb, Sam was also an avid listener, very well behaved, and had a bright future ahead of him. As did all the Dibbuns, as did we all. Sam's untimely death marks the grave occasion that I am now the sole remaining resident of Redwall. I realized this as I cradled Sam in my arms. The rosy color of his cheeks had left long ago. He was coughing, his eyelids were drooping, all the while staring at me. It was not a look of fear or helplessness, but confusion. He didn't appear to know he was dying. Bless him if that be so, for the other Dibbuns didn't go with such innocence. Their screams will forever haunt me, in this life and the next. We did our best to comfort them, to hide them from the others who passed away. It was not enough. We didn't have that kind of room, our pride prevented us from placing the dead in a pile or dropping them into the fire that surrounds us. The bodies have been decaying, the stench of death is what we breathe. No one should have died like ours did. Was I wrong in not killing them myself? …I'm sorry, it's too easy for me to be irrational and callous when my soul's constantly writhing in agony. Knowing Sam was near death didn't make it hurt less when his thumb left his mouth and he closed his eyes from the last time. I stayed with him for some time after that until he went cold.

I apologize for dwelling on misery, but you understand it's all I can think about and everyone needs to know what happened here. Learn from this and don't get trapped in the same dreadful situation. Know of this horrible tragedy, let it be the final anecdote on why fire's not used as a weapon in forests and the importance of planning for the worst scenario. There's no doubt to me that we have friends on the outside, eager to help, yet they're unable to do so. Plan for that. We needed help from above, perhaps you'd benefit from having such help close to paw.

I don't have long now. As I said, I'm the last of the Redwallers at the Abbey. We had a strong legacy of trust, hard work, companionship, and solace. Matthias and Cornflower continue this legacy and I wish them luck in their journeys. Revenge unfortunately would be shallow as we've lost so much for it to be compensated by the death of anyone vermin or a hundred. If you should meet our two survivors, treat them well. My other request is to give each of us a proper burial, then destroy the Abbey or abandon it. The despair and suffering within these walls may never go away. I wouldn't want anyone else to live it even for a second. When I go, I want to see my friends again and hug each and every one of them. I'll also take Sam out on a walk, we never had the opportunity to really get to know each other.

Don't forget us. Pray for us. Farewell, and may you always have a home to return to."

— John Churchmouse, Recorder of Redwall Abbey. Rest in peace.

* * *

><p>As if in response to the last of the Abbey's members perishing, the fire began to die down at long last. Matthias had to watch for a while to make sure he was really seeing it, but once he was sure his eyes weren't playing tricks, he was overcome with excitement. Heart beating rapidly, he ran down the stairs as fast as he could and looked for every hare he could find, rambling incoherently something about the fire. "!" He shoved past Basil on his search for Urthwyte, eager to start the rescue mission immediately. Cornflower only had time to look around a corner to see a blur race into the next room, with a horde of hares scrambling in its wake to find out what was going on. Before Cornflower could decide to follow, she was getting trampled and shoved off to the side by hares behind her who heard the commotion and decided to check it out too.<p>

Urthwyte was busy looking at paintings of his predecessors, anything to keep his mind off the fire and thinking about what perils they must have faced. Nothing like what he had to deal with, surely. They were lucky. He turned around upon hearing someone yell his name, seeing a crazed mouse run up to him and what looked like the whole Long Patrol dashing behind in a very disorganized manner. All he could make out from Matthias was "!" He couldn't look, not with hares blocking the hallway.

"Starbuck? Are you in there somewhere?"

"Aye lord!" Starbuck struggled to raise his arm while being jostled around.

"What's Matthias going on about, what's the status on the fire?"

"I think it's out, lord."

"Out? It's over? Get out of my way, I want to see this for myself! Clear out, all of you! Move!"

Once Urthwyte could make it to a window, he looked out across where Mossflower used to be. Matthias was right. Except for some stray flames, the land was scorched earth, the only thing still on it being a sea of dead barren trees and a black Abbey far in the distance. "Right, this is it, now's the time to send out a rescue team. Half my troops, enough food for three days, move out as soon as possible and get there as soon as possible! Bring all the survivors here, no one living should be at the Abbey once you're out of there. Move out!"

Matthias was uneasy upon hearing that all the "living" need to leave. Did Urthwyte think the Abbey was housing some dead animals? It has been a long time, how many would be left, if any? He didn't say anything, surprising given how he couldn't stop talking a moment ago, but he really didn't want to go to the Abbey with the hares. It seemed Urthwyte wasn't forcing it, at least. Cornflower had caught up and noticed Matthias was being quiet again. She tried rubbing his shoulders for a bit, but he shrugged her off and slowly started to walk outside. Urthwyte knew better than to ask, poor mouse probably thought everybody was gone. The only response they got was Matthias looking back and saying "I'm heading north. I need builders." Then he left.

Basil popped up behind them. "Devil of a mood swing in that young chap. Where did he run off to? I thought we weren't letting him out of our sight? Oh, the fire's gone! I should be out there with the rest of the patrol! Er, no, no, plenty of hares attending to that. Lordship, I humbly ask that I—"

"Yes, go, go with Matthias and help him, go!"

Basil dashed outside, then popped his head back in. "Do you happen to know where—"

"He went north, he needs builders."

"Builders? He'll have to wait a tick for that. These paws aren't for construction but I could jolly well give it a shot until the rest of the patrol returns… right, north I go!"

Cornflower and Urthwyte stayed inside, with the rest of the hares that weren't on the rescue mission returning to their duties. It was now harder than ever to wait.

The first moment that Slagar noticed the fire was dying down, before the hares would get to the Abbey and before Matthias noticed it, he seized the opportunity to sneak into the Abbey. Just in case, he wished himself to be invisible. This prevented him from seeing his hand as he fumbled around for the knocker on the front gate, so he'd just have to be visible the whole time. It'd be too risky walking up stairs without being able to see his own feet. Stealth would be required then, peer around every corner and don't make any loud sounds. He slowly opened the door and slipped inside.

He had to fight the urge to instantly run back outside, as he was met with a powerful stench of decay. Still, just in case, he walked around slowly, holding his paw to his mouth and trying not to gag. His stomach started churning and he dropped to the floor, retching loudly. This place was very unhealthy to be in. Not hearing anything, he went for broke and yelled out hello to see if anyone was around. And if anyone was, it'd be a good excuse for him to rush out. Still nothing. Curiosity was getting the better of him. If no one was coming out, then he had to at least look and find out what the source of the stench was. He clambered to his feet and stumbled frequently as he made his way through each room. Eventually he got to Cavern Hole and suddenly knew. He lost the will to move, letting his knees buckle and collapsing once more to the floor. One glimpse was enough, he wasn't going to pick himself back up for anything. Nothing else mattered at this point. After remembering he still had that crystal ball, he wished furiously to get back onto the coast. Nothing happened, perhaps his mind was too weak. Tears were welling up in his eyes as he continued whispering to himself, to no avail. It wasn't long after that he passed out, looking to any unobservant passersby no different from the many dead bodies that occupied that room.

Slagar found himself having the worst nightmare of his life. To his dismay, even in his dreams he couldn't escape the smell inside the Abbey. He didn't appear to be anywhere in particular as everything around was nearly pitch black. Torch lights could be seen floating about in the air, blurring whenever he moved his head. He also had a throbbing headache. As before, he would stumble forward, keeping his paws out in front just in case he were to walk into anything.

After a while he saw four or six mice hover into view, standing off to the sides and glaring at him as he walked by. The only thing off about them was blood trickling down their faces and bodies, and they appeared to be slowly melting too. Slagar just walked on by, trying not to make eye contact. Next thing to float in front of him was the Abbot, disheveled and bleeding as well. Over and over the Abbot said "Turn yourself in." Slagar didn't take kindly to this advice and took a swing at the Abbot, who vanished. Suddenly he felt himself falling as a fiery world appeared below him. He landed on the ground with a harsh thud. He picked himself up and was about to look around when he realized he was in a cage. The inside of the cage was pitch black as was the dark Abbey before, save for a barred window revealing what he was glad not to be thrust into. Creatures screamed from afar, fireballs flew through the air, and a black cloud of smoke rolled across the sky. Was this Hellgates? It was pretty hot in the cage and seemed to be getting hotter. From the glow of the flames out the window he could spot words inscribed on the cage walls. Monster. Coward. Burn. He wasn't sure now if the sweat dripping from his brow was from the sweltering heat or from fear. What was that in the distance? Three hooded figures in black robes, and they were headed towards him. He put his paws around the bars on the window, promptly scorching them and making him recoil. As the figures came closer, he noticed that two of them had sharp elongated claws. The one in the middle had its tail sticking out, revealing itself to be a fox. They stopped in front of the cage and stood there, waiting. He instinctively reached for his crystal ball only to find nothing there. He was then momentarily distracted by a rising sun, giving off a piercing glare that made his left eye close shut. The middle figure lowered its hood to reveal what looked like himself, but missing its left eye and looking remorseful. Before he could comprehend any further what he was seeing, the other two figures suddenly grabbed him through the window.

Slagar woke up screaming, finding himself back at the Abbey. The middle figure was gone. Where the other two were, they had been replaced by two grim-faced hares who arrived and had seen enough.

"This one's breathing! I don't know what you're doing here, fox, but we have to take you in for questioning. If you know something about the Abbey's demise, we need to know."

Slagar shook his head, but he meant he didn't want to be taken captive. He was still scared out of his wits.

The hare continued. "Well, we need to take you in anyway, Lord's orders. You might have, er, amnesia or something. Wouldn't blame you. Let's get out of— what? What was that, Timballo? Oh, the writings of the recorder. …With an entry from two days ago." He skimmed through it. "Oh… no… we better take this whole thing. Come with us, fox."

Slagar slowly moved his paw toward where he thought the crystal ball would be, when the hare noticed. "What are you reaching for?" The hare rummaged through the fox's coat and pulled out the ball. "Did you steal this from the Abbey?"

He was frantically waving his paws and shouting "No! Give it back!"

The hare resisted and, with help, started dragging the fox back to Salamandastron. The other hares followed as they didn't see anything else worth reporting, so it was time to head back. The crystal ball would have to be another thing for Lord Urthwyte to look at.

* * *

><p>Everyone was gathered in the dining hall as Urthwyte read through the Abbey recorder's entries. Out loud so everyone could hear. Seated at the other end was Slagar, with his two hare captors standing behind him to make sure he wouldn't run off. Matthias was particularly not trusting of the fox, waiting for an opportunity to voice his concerns. The crystal ball lay beside Urthwyte, defeating any chance of swiping it in secret. Slagar thought this was all a sham anyway, the others probably already made up their minds not to trust him, so this would just be a delay to try to guilt him into confessing. He felt like it was working.<p>

Urthwyte finished the last entry and looked up. It was not a look of sorrow like they expected. No, he was furious. The last place anybody wanted to be right now was in that room. Every word the badger spoke would echo through the hall. He focused his discussion on the patrollers that returned from the Abbey, and the hares at the table who weren't part of that group felt sorry for their comrades.

"They died in agony. This can't be slept off, it will haunt us all for the rest of our lives. Did any of you read this last page before leaving the Abbey? Yeah? Well you can march your worthless tails back there and obey his wishes!" He banged his fist on the book to refer to the recorder. "You came back here far too quick to have buried them. There's a whole lot of them, you would have lost a day easy. And the whole patrol that I sent out is back here now so I know no one's at the Abbey. Did you leave the door and gate open? No? Good, at least there's one thing you've done right. And another thing, all you brought back was one scraggly fox. Certainly a beast of interest, but_ not _someone who needs twenty hares to drag back here. What, did you think everyone needed to report back? Some of the other hares could be over there right now. But no! Let's waste another day or two! Let their carcasses rot more and make the air inside toxic! It's what they deserve, right? It must be, my best and brightest wouldn't be here otherwise! I don't want excuses! Get there on the double and pray that no one else has come by to see your incompetence! No you aren't getting any more food! They didn't get to have more, why should you? And you don't get to listen in on my conversation with the fox. If anything important comes up, I will tell you once you return. That is if I don't rip out your ears first! And take this book with you!" He threw it with no regard for its well-being, with enough force that it was shocking to see it clear the table. Slagar barely had time to dodge as the book hit its intended target, Starbuck, squarely in the chest. "Put that back where you found it. We'll give it to Matthias once he knows what to do with it, but in the meantime I think the best place is back in the withered paws of the poor soul who worked tirelessly to inform us all of their plight. Even while he was dying, unlike you spoiled overfed loonies. Now go! Get out of my sight, you bloody amateurs!"

The hares were offended by the insult, but knew better than to argue, and left immediately.

The badger set his sights on Slagar. "You got something to say to me, scum? Why don't you start by telling me why you were at the Abbey? And explain what one of my illegitimate patrollers pulled off of you?"

The fox felt his voice slipping away, and two leftover hares had gathered behind him to prevent escape. "I… where do I begin… I'm Slagar. I was at the Abbey. I was checking it out. Wrong place, wrong time, heh. The fire was gone and I just wanted to peek inside, then the rabbits came and…"

"I was told they found you passed out on the floor!"

"Right… well yes, there's a nauseating smell as soon as you go in. And I went in, and… I was doing some looking, I guess it overpowered me." A simple nod of his head indicated he had nothing more to say.

Urthwyte was stunned at how difficult Slagar was being, and rolled his eyes. "That's all you have, that's what you're going with? WHY were you at the Abbey? Not how you got in, WHY?"

"I was just curious, the fire died down and I wanted to see if there was anybody left!"

"You wanted to see if there was anybody left. You know what, we'll come back to that. Now, what do you know about who started the fire?"

The fox's immediate response was off-putting. "Oh it'd have to be some right bastard. Or natural causes. I mean— I mean, it's not impossible that there could have been a wildfire. But I really don't know who started it."

"How DARE you take me for an idiot. I think you did it. If you were innocent, that would have been the first thing out of your lying, scheming mouth. Doesn't mean I would have believed you, after all it is awfully suspicious that we should find you anywhere near there, but you would have had a chance to prove you didn't do it. Before I behead you, I still need to know what this ball is. You stole it, didn't you?"

"No, don't touch it!"

Urthwyte yanked it from the table and threw it on the floor, shattering the ball into countless pieces.

Slagar was horrified as he saw visions flash by of what would now be his reality. "NOOOO! Do you have any idea what you've done!"

"It means nothing to them now since they're dead."

"You idiot! That ball could grant whoever held it the ability to do anything! Including reversing the fire and bringing everyone back!"

"Yeah right. And if you could do that, why didn't you?"

He thought the answer obvious, so he presented himself sarcastically. "I'm a fox."

"You reeeally want to die right now, don't you? How did—"

Matthias had to interrupt. "Slagar, did you start the fire?"

"Excuse me, I'm talking!"

Matthias ignored the badger, repeating himself louder. "Did you start the fire?"

"Yes I did! And I wish it never happened!"

Nobody moved or made a sound. This was the vermin who caused the worst tragedy in their history. He was defenseless but presumed still dangerous. They sensed greater danger in the confusion over why he would regret setting Mossflower on fire. Those seated near Slagar were very uncomfortable, Matthias included. All they could do was wait for further explanation. But they were definitely enraged and were ready to race to be first in tearing Slagar's heart out if Urthwyte ever gave the go-ahead.

"It's true, I wish I never set the forest on fire. I was just so sick of how no matter what I did, no matter who I slayed, someone else would always take their place. Let me guess, you were going to build a new Abbey, right? Yeah, I thought so. But that is really your greatest strength, perseverance. You refuse to die. Maybe you get that from Martin, I don't know. Or no, you didn't, because I slew Martin and someone else took his place. Then I undid it. But this, undoing the Abbey fire, I'd never be able to do that, not even with the crystal ball. You need the same kind of passion as what you put into it. I was so_ angry _when I did it, I wanted you dead at any cost. Then the fire lasted longer than I thought, and— look, my point is, your perseverance was inspiring. Is inspiring. It feels so wrong to try to slay something that fights so hard to stay alive. I'm sorry. I know that's too late, but there you have it. I also had a nightmare when I was passed out, I was in Hellgates. But I don't think that scared me as much as seeing all the deadbeasts in the Abbey."

Matthias spoke after a moment of silence. "Maybe some good can exist in any beast. Still, you've destroyed so much that we'll never fully be able to move on. You say perseverance, but it takes time. The Abbey… I mean, what used to be Redwall Abbey… it took a long time to build. That was with the forest for materials and its many inhabitants who believed in us serving as extra helpers. Without all that, the time it would take to rebuild… it…" He wasn't able to continue.

Urthwyte took over. "That's all right Matthias, you may head back to your dorm, get some rest." Cornflower and Basil followed the mouse. "Slagar, I had a couple other questions to ask. Just to be sure, did you start the fire using that ball?" The fox nodded. "I see. And where did you get it from?"

"Some wolf gave it to me. I don't know when he's coming back. He said I should use the ball to improve the land. Well… yeah. I got caught up in using it for my own selfish reasons. You might ask why I was given it. He specifically said because vermin would use the power and goodbeasts would not."

"Because of spirit. Spirit, perseverance, luck, help from the stars. It combines to look like fate, and that's not easy to change. So we accept what fate deals us and trust that it's for the best. At the same time, fate calls upon us all to do our part."

"Was the forest supposed to be set on fire?"

"I don't know. Probably not. But that's where we are."

He solemnly nodded in agreement. "Is there anything else you need me for?"

"No. If anyone else wants to leave the room, do it now." Urthwyte reached for an ax, checking that it was sharp. "Head down."

"Make it quick, please."

"My pleasure." And in one swift motion, Slagar's life came to an end.

A couple days later, Mark returned and found out what happened to Slagar and the crystal ball. He was miffed at first, but accepted the conclusion that time is best left alone. He couldn't reverse the damage Slagar did, yet didn't feel like he needed to. The patrollers were true to their orders and buried each Redwall resident nearby, then sent one patroller to give the recorder's book to Matthias for safekeeping while the rest carved a message telling visitors that the Abbey should remain abandoned. A few weeks later, plans for the new Abbey were drafted and the fire was no longer a burden of thought. Creatures had come from far and wide to help out, driven by belief in the Redwall way of life and sympathy for the old Abbey's wrongful demise. Matthias, Cornflower, and Basil all stood near a plot of land north of where Mossflower once was. They were excited for the future.

"Fine spot to build, eh wot?"

Matthias was smiling. "Yeah, this will work. We have many friends with us here today, supporting our vision for a safe home for all, and Redwall's spirit will live on through us. We'll be okay."

"Jolly good! So chaps, what should we name it?"

THE END


End file.
